MURAMATSU / MURAMATS Jiro
村松 次郎 (治郎)
Born: 6 September 1878 – Died: 7 January 1943
Particulars:
Jiro was born in Kobe and moved to Western Australia at the age of 15. His father Sakutaro, died of illness while Jiro was attending Xavier College. Jiro took over Sakutaro’s shop and business, and developed a successful pearling and trading business in Cossack and Garramilla / Darwin in the Northern Territory. With the outbreak of the Pacific War, he and his wife Hatsu were arrested in Darwin and interned at Tatura Internment Camp in Victoria. He died while interned, and is now buried in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia. He always signed his name ‘Muramats’ or ‘Jiro’ (治郎).
–Sophie Constable, Mayumi Kamada, and Mayu Kanamori
More info:
Sophie Constable and Mayumi Kamada
Artist/s Statement:
This piece is a collaborative work between researcher Mayumi Kamada and artist Sophie Constable. Sophie integrated Mayumi’s photos – the colours and landscape of Cossack and the family photos – to represent different aspects of Muramats Jiro’s life, and how he was a visionary entrepreneur. The piano keys represent the music of his life passing on through the generations.
Mayumi Kamada’s encounter with Jiro Muramats began in September 2017. She writes:
‘I saw the magnificent headstone of Sakutaro Muramats in the Japanese Cemetery at Cossack, Western Australia. Since then, through following Jiro’s life history, I had the opportunity to meet with his relatives living in Kobe, Fujieda, and Yokohama. The records describe Jiro as a ‘man of virtue’, and as such, his descendants warmly welcomed the sudden appearance of a “researcher” like me.’
Descendants of Jiro and Hatsu’s only daughter, Haruko Imatomi have inherited a piano that Hatsu bought for her grandson when she returned to Japan in her later years. Jiro learned to play the piano when he attended Xavier College, and his home in Cossack had an organ. His grandson Shingo was a conductor of a choir. Today the Imatomi family lounge room is full of young voices singing to the piano, flute, and cajon.
Written by Haruko Imatomi (今富美子)
決断を迫られてゐる薔薇の前
Before the rose, pressed for a decision
生き死には謎 半夏生咲きにけり
Life and death are mysteries — the crow-dipper has bloomed
冬すみれ親子のえにし薄かりし
Winter violets — the bond between parent and child is faint
時流れ水の流れも澄みにけり
Time flows, and like water, becomes clear
萩に埋もれる嬉しさ極みかなしかり
The joy of being buried in bush clover — is the height of sorrow
Written by Toshiko Nakayama（中山とし子）
高祖父（母）の子子孫孫と音の楽
Children and grandchildren of my great-grandfather (great-grandmother), enjoying the music of sound.
ワインレッドの縦ピアノ還暦過ぎてもまだ居間に
The wine-red upright piano, even past the age of sixty, still sits in the living room.
集まれば音を楽しむ
DNA When we gather, music rises — it’s in our DNA.
Artist Bio:
Sophie Constable is an artist, scientist, researcher, and educator at The Australian National University in Canberra.
Mayumi Kamada is an Emeritus Professor at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business in Japan. She has worked for over 30 years as a university teacher and academic researcher in international relations, particularly Australian studies. She has published books on Australia-Japan relations, and her recent interest is in Japanese merchants and pearl divers who worked in northern Australia in the early 20th century.